Method of piloting engines by lateral gaseous jets issuing from the main propulsive means and nozzle with a central obstructing device in particular in the application of said method

ABSTRACT

Method of piloting ballistic and spacial engines of the type comprising a propulsive means with a stationary main nozzle, wherein hot gases are taken off from the rear over the said propulsive means and brought on to radial peripherical nozzles by suitable conduits. The flow of said gases are then regulated by adjustably obstructing devices mounted in said radial peripherical nozzles in order to produce the necessary impulsions.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Daniel Nerwer Bourg-la-Reine, France [211 App]. No. 776,461

[22] Filed Nov. 18, 1968 [45] Patented Jan. 12, 1971 [73] Assignee Noi d-Aviation Societe Nationale de Constructions Aeronautiques Paris, France a joint stock company of France [32] Priority Nov. 24, 1967 [33] France [54] METHOD OF PILOTING ENGINES BY LATERAL GASEOUS JETS ISSUING FROM THE MAIN PROPULSIVE MEANS AND NOZZLE WITH A CENTRAL OBSTRUCTING DEVICE IN PARTICULAR IN THE APPLICATION OF SAID METHOD 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 239/ 127.3,

239/265.25, 239/265.27 [51] Int. Cl 364d 33/04 [50] Field ofSearch 239/l27.1,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,865,169 12/ l 958 Hausmann 239/265.27 3,127,740 4/1964 Chamay 60/271 3,245,620 4/1966 McEwen 239/265.25 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,036,540 9/1953 France 239/ 1 27. 1

Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. King Attorney-Karl W. Flocks ABSTRACT: Method of piloting ballistic and spacial engines of the type comprising a propulsive means with a stationary main nozzle, wherein hot gases are taken off from the rear over the said propulsive means and brought on to radial periphrical nozzles by suitable conduits. The flow of said gases are then regulated by adjustably obstructing devices mounted in said radial peripherical nozzles in order to produce the necessary impulsions.

PATENTEU Jmlzlsn I 3.554.448

sum 1 BF 5 \d paw-s PATENTEU ml 2 an SHEET 2 [IF 5 PATENIED JAN 1 215m SHEET l; 0F 5 PATENTEU JAN 1 21am SHEET 5 OF 5 FIG. 5

METHOD OF PILOTING ENGINES BY LATERAL GASEOUS JETS ISSUING FROM THE MAIN PROPULSIVE MEANS AND NOZZLE WITH A CENTRAL OBSTRUCTING DEVICE IN PARTICULAR IN THE APPLICATION OF SAID METHOD sitates the production of additive *thrust vectors and means for adapting the orientation or the modulation of said vectors to the various cases of flight correction.

According to a first known means, the inclination of the main gaseous jet is controlled either by orientation of the nozzle or by the production of auxiliary jets in the main nozzle itself or in its periphery, but this means which sets to work complex inclination mechanisms and complicated injection systems of en gives rise to a high structural weight/effective propulsive weight ratio, a lengthy and costly adjustment, a complication of the systems further'resulting in imperfect reliability.

According to a second known means, ergols are fed by pumps to orientable auxiliary propulsive means disposed on the periphery of the propulsive means, but this means remains limited to liquid fuel engines.

According to a third known means, the thrust of auxiliary propulsive means is modulated by variation of the ergol flow, but this means leads to solutions still not well defined.

These known solutions of the piloting problem are very often further complicated by the fact that the feed of the gaseous jets is carried out from independent autonomous reserves of the propulsive mass itself, whence a supplementary overloading of the propulsive means.

Consequently, the present invention proposes a method of piloting engines by lateral gaseous jets issuing from the main propulsive means itself, the said method being advantageously but not exclusively carried out due to nozzles with central obstructive devices, not cooled or cooled by parietal injection of water or a suitable liquid.

The invention consists more particularly in taking off hot gases from the rear over of the main propulsive means adjacent to the admission to the main nozzle, in bringing these gases on to radial peripheral nozzles by suitable conduits and in regulating the flow of said gases by a suitable means such as an adjustable obstructing device mounted on said noules, said I nozzles being then characterized in such a way that:

the gaseous impulsion is modulated by suitable action on the position of said obstructing means, the efficiency is at a maximum since the high pressure is preserved up to the level of use upstream of the nozzles,

the weight and bulk of the installation are much less than prior devices particularly due to the absence of auxiliary prpjpulsive means containing substantial volumes of ergol, an

the gaseous pressure at the nozzles remains constantly equal to the internal pressure of the main propulsive mean.

In any case, the invention will be more fully understood in the course of the following description in which will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and merely by way of example one preferred embodiment of the invention according'to which a propulsive means, including several hot gas taking off conduits terminating in several cooled radial nozzles provided with a movable central obstructing device, in conformity with the invention, thus permits suitable roll and yaw piloting of a ballistic or spatial en gme.

In the said drawings: 1

FIG. I is a perspective view of a propulsive means of the classical type provided with eight conduits in conformity with the invention.

d FIG. 2 is a sectional view to a larger scale of one of said conuits.

FIG. 3 is a partial axial section of a nozzle unit in conformity with the invention provided with a movable central obstructing device, which is cooled by a water circulating and vaporizing system.

FIG. 4 is a partial axial section to a larger scale of the nozzle proper according to FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the cooling circuit unit as well as the unit for the control of the displacement of the movable obstructing devices of the nozzles according to FIG. 3. I

Referring to FIG. I there is seen a perspective diagrammatic view of an engine designated as a whole by the numeral 1, pro vided with eight conduits 2 in conformity with the invention. said conduits taking off the hot gases at the level of the rear cover la of the propulsive means in order to canalize them out of the periphery lc (shown in dot and dash lines for a clearer understanding of the drawing) through suitable regulating members so that the jets then produce controlled radial impulsions capable of ensuring the usual piloting corrections of such engines. Further and in conformity with use, these conduits 2 are moreover distributed symmetrically, two by two, about the point 0 itself situated in the plane P passing through the neck of the main nozzle lb on the generating'line z. 2' so that the bisecting lies between x x, and x,, x, are respectively perpendicular to the other bisecting lines between x x;, and x x',.

FIG. 2 shows, in axial section, the means employed for the catchment of the hot gases as well as the method employed to ensure the mechanical attachment of the take off conduits 2 to the bottom la of the propulsive means.

In FIG. 3 which shows, in partial axial section, the control mechanism 3 of the central obstructing device 4a of one of the nozzles according to the invention andwhich is designated as a whole by the numeral 3, it may beseen that a water cooling system 5 may easily be integrated in said mechanism and that the nozzle unit may also easily be adapted to the end of the conduit of FIG. 2, conduit which is moreover protected by an ablative coating 2b of a material identical to that of the admission lb to the main nozzle neck.

The cooling of the nozzle and of its obstructing device is apparent from an examination of FIG. 4 where it is seen that the cooling water is injected at a sufilcient'number of points to eliminate penetration into the gaseous vein (mechanical penetration and penetration through diffusion) and thus to approximate as much as possible the ideal transpiration diagram. The water moreover flows at high speed near the wall thus to permit high temperatures of the water-gas mixture against the latter.

According to this embodiment, the conduit 20 of FIG. 2, which constitutes one of the gaseous injection conduits terminating in the nozzles oriented in the direction OX and in the adjusting members of the gaseous flow, is provided internally with an ablative coating 2b and it comprises a solid anchorage 2c at the base In of the propulsive means 1.

Always according to this same embodiment, the nozzle with the movable obstructing device 4a on which arrives the conduit 2 comprises principally (FIG. 34): a displacement controlling device for the obstructing device designated as a whole by the numeral 4, as well as the water injection system, designated as a whole by the numeral 5.

This mechanism 4 controlling the displacement of the movable obstructing device 4a essentially includes, apart from the nozzle body proper 3a and a suitable support 4] connected to the body lb of the main nozzle: a central obstructing device 40 with its guiding devices 4b, with elastic compensation means 40, and jack displacement device 4d and servovalve 4c. The diagram of FIG. 5 will, hereafter, explain the operation of the hydropneumatic control of said mechanism.

The water injection system 5 (FIG. 3) consists principally of a servovalve 5a, subject to the displacement of the jack M for the water flow adjustment, and of conduits such as 5b, 5c, 5d and 5e terminating respectively in the orifices (FIG. 4) such as 5}, 53, 5h, 5i, 5j, 5k and SI, respectively disposed on the wall of the nozzle 30 and on the wall of the bulb 4a.

The cooling water for the four groups of nozzles G to G, (FIG. is stocked in two spherical tanks 5m, 5n pressurized by nitrogen at 350 bars which is contained in a tank 5p. This nitrogen which is placed in circuit upon firing of the propulsive means by a pyrotechnical isolating valve Sq, is regulated by a pressure-reducing valve 5r.

This water arrives through the agency of circuits C I and D in dot and dash lines at each of the distributing valves 5a at about 70 the throttle-chamber of each valve, integral with the jack 4d, divides the water flow into two fractions q and q which are brought by the flexible conduits 5b and 5e (FIG. 3) to the injection points.

The flow qh which varies but little, is injected at 5i, Sj, 5h upstream of theneck by the bulb 40, after passage in helicoidal conduits 5i 1 and Sj 1 and upstream of the nozzle at 5f by the body 3a, after passage in helicoidal conduits 5f 1, v

The flow q2, more variable, is injected at 5k and 5!, after passage in helicoidal conduits 51 l and 5K1 as well as at 5g after passage in helicoidal conduits 5g]. Moreover, complementary conduits 5.: taken from the flow q2 ensures thecooling of the strut which supports the bulb 4a.

The bulb or movable obstructing means 4a (FIG. 4) is moved from the position A which corresponds to closure to the position B which is the maximum opening by a mechanism 4 including a jack 4d acting on two stress distributing'rings, the one 43 for control, the other 4): for receiving, guided by three spindles 4b interconnecting them. These spindles slide in guiding slots situated in the flange of the valve body 3a and carry between said flange and the control ring 4g a stack of flexible .washers 4c which partly compensate the gas resistant stress on 'oil flow which is a function of the variation of the available pressure Ap and of the electric order of admission sent by C and D (FIG. 5). The high oil pressure is provided by a pump 4] from a tank 41' acting on two nitrogen accumulators 4k, 4!.

As a variant, the displacement mechanism 4 may be pneumatic, which then merely necessitates an adaptation of the jack and its parts.

The relative position of the bulb 4a in the nozzle 3a must define the water injection conditions in such a waythat for a gas temperature of about 3000 C., the walls of said bulb and of said nozzle do not exceed 300 C. as an average during a few seconds.

Similarly, the outline of said bulb and 'said nozzle must permit a suitable adaptation of the gas flow in all intermediate positions between the closed and open positions of the obstructing means.

Moreover, all the remote controls of the parameters are ensured by captors as known in'the practical field.

Iclairn: l5 l. A method of roll and yaw piloting of ballistic and spatial engines of the type comprising a propulsive means with a stationary main nozzle, characterized in that it consists in:

taking off hot gases from the rear cover of the propulsive means, adjacent to the admission to the main nozzle; bringing these gases, through the agency of conduits, to the admission to radial peripheral nozzles with a central obstructing device, distributed symmetrically, two by two, about the center of the neck of the main nozzle; producing the piloting impulsions by modulating the gaseous flow in said nozzles by the displacement of the corresponding central obstructing devices; and cooling said nozzles and said obstructing devices by injection, upstream and downstream of the neck of said nozzles, ofa liquid laminar film. 2. A piloting method according to'claim I, wherein the peripheral nozzles and the central obstructing devices are made of an ablative material and are coated with a wall of calcined metal permitting the oozing of the cooling liquid.

3. Apparatus for roll and yaw piloting of ballistic and spatial engines including:

a propulsive means with a stationary main nozzle; radial peripheral nozzles distributed symmetrically, by groups of two, about the center of the neck of the main nozzle; conduits for taking off the hot gases of the propulsive means,'issuing, on the one hand, on the rear base of said propulsive means, adjacent to the admission to the main nozzle, on the other hand, at the admission to the radial peripheral nozzles; as many central obstructing devices as there are peripheral nozzles; the said obstructing devices occupying an open or a closed position of the corresponding nozzle neck and modulating the gaseous flow passing through said nozzle; means for controlling the displacement of said central obstructing devices; and cooling means for said peripheral nozzles and said central obstructing devices. 4. Piloting system according to claim 3, wherein the cooling means for the peripheral nozzles and the central obstructing devices include a circuit of cooling liquid under pressure and injectors distributing a liquid laminar film upstream and downstream of the neck of said peripheral nozzles. 

1. A method of roll and yaw piloting of ballistic and spatial engines of the type comprising a propulsive means with a stationary main nozzle, characterized in that it consists in: taking off hot gases from the rear cover of the propulsive means, adjacent to the admission to the main nozzle; bringing these gases, through the agency of conduits, to the admission to radial peripheral nozzles with a central obstructing device, distributed symmetrically, two by two, about the center of the neck of the main nozzle; producing the piloting impulsions by modulating the gaseous flow in said nozzles by the displacement of the corresponding central obstructing devices; and cooling said nozzles and said obstructing devices by injection, upstream and downstream of the neck of said nozzles, of a liquid laminar film.
 2. A piloting method according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral nozzles and the central obstructing devices are made of an ablative material and are coated with a wall of calcined metal permitting the oozing of the cooling liquid.
 3. Apparatus for roll and yaw piloting of ballistic and spatial engines including: a propulsive means with a stationary main nozzle; radial peripheral nozzles distributed symmetrically, by groups of two, about the center of the neck of the main nozzle; conduits for taking off the hot gases of the propulsive means, issuing, on the one hand, on the rear base of said propulsive means, adjacent to the admission to the main nozzle, on the other hand, at the admission to the radial peripheral nozzles; as many central obstructing devices as there are peripheral nozzles; the said obstructing devices occupying an open or a closed position of the corresponding nozzle neck and modulating the gaseous flow passing through said nozzle; means for controlling the displacement of said central obstructing devices; and cooling means for said peripheral nozzles and said central obstructing devices.
 4. Piloting system according to claim 3, wherein the cooling means for the peripheral nozzles and the central obstructing devices include a circuit of cooling liquid under pressure and injectors distributing a liquid laminar film upstream and downstream of the neck of said peripheral nozzles. 